New homes sales in the region are expected to continue rising for the next couple of years.
US Census Bureau data finds Sacramento is seeing a 66% increase in home construction permits mid-pandemic - the largest increase of any US metro over the last two years. Prices of existing homes topped $360,000 in June and have pulled back a bit since then, according to the National Association of Realtors. Still, September’s median price remained above $350,000 — and 13% higher than its year-ago level. Double-digit appreciation is great for sellers, but it’s not helpful for buyers.
“First-time buyers are hit particularly hard by the historically high home prices as they largely do not have the savings required to buy a home or equity to offset such a purchase,” says Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist. Housing economists say this boom is about to run out of steam. The Mortgage Bankers Association expects annual appreciation to cool to 5% by the end of 2022.